Archive for » March, 2011 «

Musical Memory Box: Burning The Midnight Oil Edition

Thursday, March 31st, 2011 | Author:

Wednesday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Wavin’ Flag, K’NAAN, Troubadour, 2009. Stephane Dubord ensures a fight to the finish for the month of March with  some bonus point magic.

We had some contrasting comments for K’NAAN’s “Wavin’ Flag”.

Serge Leclerc:

“Well that was not written by a Conservative that’s for sure. LOL

No clue what this is, it sounds like a poorly written flower power or
reggae let’s toke up and be happy song. Hope I didn’t just insult some
great Canadian band there. hehehe”

And once he found out what it was:

“A Vuvuzela song? LOL Ok I know what it is, it’s the wave your flag song.
The hook in that song felt like hooks to my eyes. I don’t think I’ve
listened to the whole song, I could not stand it. LOL”

As you can see, Serge does not hold back when he dislikes a song. Stéphane had a differing opinion, though:

“Has there ever been a song that has been played more often in a given year than Wavin’ Flag? Released as a successful single by K’naan, released as the theme song for the World Cup, and remade by a star-studded cast of Canadians for the Haiti campaign. Yet, despite being omnipresent, I never did get tired of hearing it. It’s a testament to the quality of the song that it was played ad nauseam, yet didn’t get irritating (wish I could say the same of the I Believe song during the Olympics!!)

I still have the Haiti version on my iPod, and the girls love to listen to it.”

He goes on to do some King James-like prognosticating:

“Nice to get bonus points! I’ve hardly gotten any this month. PM has been aggressively pouncing faster than… that “other” PM. We were virtually even heading into today’s matchup, despite a huge advantage in bonus points (PM=21 to me=6!). Tomorrow is going to be interesting. Could my reign come to an end??”

Laurie-Anne is also a fan of the song:

“This song was my first introduction to Kn’aan and it grabbed me and has not let go. My mood automatically improves every single time I hear it.”

Take everything Stéphane said and make that my position. However often I’ve heard it, and I’ve heard in hundreds of times because of my 3 week World Cup vacation, I still love it. That is QUITE the achievement. He totally deserved the Juno on Sunday.

So, here we are. PM needs bonus points PLUS a Stéphane stumble to dethrone the king.

Here are your lyrics for today:

“The killer in me is the killer in you
Send this smile over to you”


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Musical Memory Box: Juno Week Near Its End Edition

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 | Author:

Tuesday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Rockin’ In The Free World, Neil Young, Freedom, 1989. Pierre-Marc Perreault secures the coveted bonus points as the month nears its end.

Quick in n’ out…like a good Conservative:

“So many wars, settling scores
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor
I heard them say ‘love is the way’
‘Love is the answer,’ that’s what they say

But look how they treat us, make us believers
We fight their battles, then they deceive us
Try to control us, they couldn’t hold us
‘Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers”

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Musical Memory Box: Absenteeism Edition

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 | Author:

Sunday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Leave It Alone, Moist, Creature, 1996. Karl Bélanger, on the road, gets the bonus points!

So what happened yesterday, Music Man? What, too busy to post an MMB? Are we not important enough for you anymore? Is your eye straying?

No. No. No. I, ummm, forgot. Yes, I forgot to post an MMB. Yes, I’m busy at work, but that hasn’t stopped me before. Hopefully you will find the kindness in your heart to forgive me?

When I try and pin down my favourite Moist song, “Leave It Alone” is definitely in the conversation. I have the toughest time picking one though. “Silver”? “Tangerine?” Grrrr

Moist won the 1995 Juno for Best New Group, and Best Video for “Gasoline” in 1997. Here’s a cool Juno video of Moist in 1995:

http://www.lyrics5.com/videos.html?vid=PdYGd5JAokI

Only 2 days left in Juno week!

Here are your lyrics for today:

“There’s colors on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin’ their feet
People sleepin’ in their shoes
But there’s a warnin’ sign
on the road ahead
There’s a lot of people sayin’
we’d be better off dead
Don’t feel like Satan,
but I am to them
So I try to forget it,
any way I can.”

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Musical Memory Box: Juno Night Edition

Sunday, March 27th, 2011 | Author:

Saturday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Building A Mystery, Sarah McLachlan, Surfacing, 1997. Stephane Dubord making it tough to beat him once again as he snatches the bonus points from the Lilith Fair demography.

I’m surprised I didn’t get a stronger response on this one. Other than Celine Dion or Shania Twain, it’s hard to think of a bigger Canadian international music star than Sarah Mac. She was absolutely huge during mid-90′s, becoming an icon for the fairer sex.

She won a bunch of Junos, but more importantly for Canadians who don’t recognize their artists until other countries do, she won a couple of Grammies.

Here are your lyrics for today:

“I laid your arms out long untwisted there
And shaped what I could find
Unmade the most of it and then left the rest
The parts unrecognized
My reconstruction was the only way
For one last look at you
I lost the sense of absolution
That we never knew”

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Musical Memory Box: Juno Weekend PT 1 Edition

Saturday, March 26th, 2011 | Author:

Friday’s Musical Memory Box solution: The Trees, Rush, Hemispheres, 1978. Andrew Hinde stealing precious points from our top 3 for March.

The first time I heard this song in Rock Band 2, I wasn’t 100% convinced that I liked it. It took a few playthroughs to realize this was a Canadian classic. That the maples were French Canada and the oaks were English Canada, and that Rush had decided to try and explain the Two Solitudes with a parable. Mind = Blown.

Andrew Hinde:

“This is absolutely my favourite Rush album.  My first introduction to Rush was from my dad and this album.  Got hooked once I heard the 9 1/2 minute instrumental La Villa Strangiato.”

Stéphane Dubord:

“Wow that had me messed up. At first when I read through, I thought you had gone really old school. A Canadian song about trees? That’s like CanLit 101 right? Then it hit me: the only song I know about trees! It must be The Trees by Rush.”

In 1978, the year they released “Hemispheres”, Rush won Best Group at the Junos. Rush has won 12 Juno awards, from 55 (not a typo) nominations, including this year’s nomination for Music DVD of the Year, for RUSH: Beyond The Lighted Stage, a career documentary that I highly recommend.

Here are your lyrics for today:

“You live in a church
Where you sleep with voodoo dolls
And you won’t give up the search
For the ghosts in the halls
You wear sandals in the snow
And a smile that won’t wash away
Can you look out the window
Without your shadow getting in the way
You’re so beautiful
With an edge and a charm
But so careful
When I’m in your arms”

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Musical Memory Box: Juno Friday Edition

Friday, March 25th, 2011 | Author:

Thursday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Crabbuckit, K-Os, Joyful Rebellion, 2004. Laurie Kempton makes it 2 for 2 during Juno Week!

Ok I won’t keep you waiting. Laurie-Anne’s comments on this song were historically funny:

“This song was my first introduction to k-os. I decided he and i would never be friends. Every time I hear the song I want to smash my head against a wall.”

So…you don’t like it LA?

As per Wikipedia:

“The title and work refers to the crab in the bucket syndrome where a group of crabs will pull down any crab that tries to escape, thereby ensuring their collective demise.”

So, like the Conservative Party of Canada then? I heretofore refer to them as the Crabbuckit Party.

The song won Best Pop Video at the 2005 Junos.

Here are your lyrics for today:

“The trouble with the maples,
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can’t be happy in their shade.”

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Musical Memory Box: Juno Theme Week Day 2 Edition

Thursday, March 24th, 2011 | Author:

Wednesday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Superman’s Song, Crash Test Dummies, The Ghosts That Haunt Me, 1991. Laurie Kempton kicks off Juno Theme Week with the bonus points.

This song was their first hit, and “The Ghosts That Haunt Me” won the 1991 Juno for best album. The video for this song also won Best Video at the MMVA’s that year.

I didn’t expect it, but Serge Leclerc had the most visceral reaction to this song:

“I had always liked this song and a few years later, Due South featuring Paul Gross (man I loved that show) contributed to two songs for which I really enjoyed and nailed it for me as songs I would always like. This
one being in the premier and Possession by Sarah McLaclan in the two
part finally if I remember correctly. I still have both songs on my
iPod.”

Laurie-Anne Kempton:

“This song is the definition of a one-hit wonder. The Dummies may have gone on to have other hits but nothing like this. Brad Roberts baritone is intoxicating.”

And of course Stéphane Dubord:

“I have both their two big albums (this and God Shuffled His Feet). I would categorize them as part of the “Quirky Canadians” that came out around that same era, like Barenaked Ladies, Moxy Fruvous, etc. Different sound, different lyrics, tongue planted firmly in cheek, which stood out with all the seriousness of grunge. This album had a couple of my favourites from them, Ghosts That Haunt Me and Androgynous, which have a bit more folksy arrangements, but interesting lyrics.”

I’d like to point out that with only a week left in March, there is a 3-way logjam atop the monthly ranking between Serge, Pierre-Marc and, who else, Stéphane. Can they wrench the title away from The Stig?

Here are your lyrics for today:

“Took a trip on a bus that didn’t know
Met a girl sellin’ drinks at the disco
Said truth comes back when you let it go
Seems complicated cause it’s really so simple
Walkin’ down Yonge Street on a Friday
Can’t follow them, gotta do it my way
No fast lane, still on the highway
Movin’ in and out, no doubt there’s a brighter way…”

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Musical Memory Box: Junos Theme Week

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 | Author:

Tuesday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Alive, Pearl Jam, Ten, 1991. Jolene Piche takes the cake! Mmm, cake.

Hey all, I wish I had the time to wax poetic about Pearl Jam, but unfortunately I don’t. I leave it to our MMB participants.

Oh, and today kicks off our 2nd Theme Week. The Junos are Sunday, so for 7 days we will honour Juno Award winners in MMB.

Laurie-Anne Kempton:

“I discovered pearl jam after i discovered nirvana. i ran hot and cold on nirvana but pearl jam seized me from the first song i heard – which is alive. it felt like an anthem or a mantra and it still does.”

Stéphane Dubord:

“This is the album which forever relegated Def Leppard’s Hysteria off the top of my “most played” list. To many, Nirvana was their transition out of hair bands into grunge. For me, this is it. Can’t say enough about Pearl Jam. Probably Top 5 bands of the last 2 decades, and still going strong.”

Here are your Juno lyrics for today:

“Tarzan wasn’t a ladies’ man
He’d just come along and scoop ‘em up under his arm
Like that, quick as a cat in the jungle
But Clark Kent, now there was a real gent
He would not be caught sittin’ around in no
Junglescape, dumb as an ape doing nothing”

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Musical Memory Box: Paire de bas Edition

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 | Author:

Monday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Panama, Van Halen, MCMLXXXIV, 1984. Pierre-Marc Perreault continues a great month of March with the bonus points.

Van Halen has given us “Panama”, “Jump”, “Right Now”, “Dreams”, and countless other rock staples. But mostly, they’ve given us one of rock’s greatest debates: David Lee Roth or Sammy Haggar?*

*Apologies to Gary Cherone

For some, like Pierre-Marc Perreault, it is David Lee Roth. For others, like Laura Nicol, it is neither. For Stéphane Dubord (a HUGE Van Halen fan), it is Sammy Haggar. And on and on it goes.

I can see why some prefer David Lee Roth; showman, high-energy songs, classic rocker. It might also be a generational thing; if you were of a certain age when Van Halen first made it big, David Lee Roth could be the only true face of the band. I started really getting into music when the change occurred, so the Van Halen that was playing on Much and on the radio was of the Sammy Haggar variety. With hindsight, I still prefer Haggar. There seemed to be a deeper emotional tone to the lyrics, and the music flourished, became more complex. But I totally respect everyone’s opinion on this – I’m in no way anti-DLR.

I am sad, however, of what became of Van Halen (more specifically the Van Halen brothers, Eddie and Alex). One of the best rock bands of all-time has become a hollowed-out shell, ravaged by drug and alcohol abuse, pushing away once prominent members. I keep expecting to find out on Twitter that Eddie Van Halen is dead (for real).

Here is Stéphane’s take on one of his favourite bands:

“This was the 1st VH album I owned… sort of. I “borrowed” my uncle’s tape, and then dubbed a copy for myself. As an 8 year old, this was heavier than anything I owned, but I was mesmerized by them from the first listen. Funny enough, I later filled in the rest of the space on the blank tape with some of the other “hard rock” stuff I had on other cassettes, the first of which was a song off the Footloose soundtrack by Sammy Hagar. Who knew how prescient a move that was! LOL“

Here are your lyrics for today:

“‘Oh, she walks slowly, across a young man’s room.

She said ‘I’m ready…for you…’
‘I can’t remember anything of this very day,
‘cept the look, the look…
Oh, you know where, now I can’t see, I just stare…’”

 

 

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Musical Memory Box: Low Bandwidth Edition

Monday, March 21st, 2011 | Author:

Saturday’s Musical Memory Box solution: Ahead By A Century, The Tragically Hip, Trouble At The Henhouse, 1996. Marc Dubé, who was the first ever player in MMB when he correctly guessed on a Tragically Hip song, is the only one to get all points today with another Hip song.

As I mentioned on my Facebook wall, Laura and I turned in our Rogers hardware on Saturday as our relationship with the company came to an end (save for my iPhone). Because my contract ended on a Saturday, I am only able to have my new internet company install it tonight. That is the reason there was no MMB yesterday.

The Tragically Hip had already made an imprint on the Canadian music scene with solid albums and hit songs like “New Orleans Is Sinking”, “Blow At High Dough”, “Courage”, “Locked In The Trunk of a Car”, and so on. My impression is that they truly became Canadian icons with “Trouble at the Henhouse”, especially with mega-hit “Ahead By A Century”. That is my impression, anyway. I realize with hindsight that their very best album was “Fully Completely”, but it seems to me  that “Henhouse”  eclipsed that one in popularity. Or maybe it was the fact that having two such albums back-to-back* was an affirmation of the group’s new status as Canada’s Band.

It took me a long time to get on board the Hip bandwagon. The song that sealed it for me was “Bobcaygeon”. I had stubbornly (and stupidly) resisted the band for reasons unknown. Trying to be hipper than The Hip? Again, I really don’t understand why I resisted this band, because they are one of the best this country’s ever seen.

Here are your lyrics for today:

“Jump back, what’s that sound?
Here she comes full blast and top down
Hot shoe burnin’ down the avenue
Model citizen, zero discipline
Don’t you know she’s coming home with me?
You’ll lose her in the turn
I’ll get her, aow”

*Update: Marc Dubé corrects me in stating that those two albums were back-to-back:

“Oh and Fully Completely and Trouble at the Henhouse are seperated by Day For Night so not techincally back to back. easy mistake though as the Hip put out an album of fresh material every 18 months for the first 12 years of their existence. Hard to find a band this side of 1980 with such an output. But I do agree that Fully Completely is the best all-round album. Wheat Kings and At The Hundredth Meridian are Canadian classics.”

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